James webster



Urrn STATES PATENT rrrcn.

JAMES WEBSTER, OF EDGBASTON, GREAT BRITAIN.

PRODUCING ALUMINIUM-BRONZE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 233,900, dated November2, 1880.

Application filed May 6, 1880. (No specimens.) Patented in EnglandOctober 31, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMEs WEBSTER, of Edgbaston, in the county ofWVarwick, Great Britain, engineer, have invented a new and usefulComposition or Alloy of Metals for the Production of an 1m pro vedAluminium-Bronze, (for which I have obtained a patent in Great Britain,No. 4,436, bearing date October 31, 1879,) and of which the following isa specification.

My composition or bronze consists of the following metals, combined inthe proportions stated, viz: I first take the required quantity ofsheet-copper and thoroughly cleanse it by the aid of acids, alkalies, orother suitable and efficient means, and when so cleansed I deposit onsuch copper, by electric battery or other known means, a coating 'ofaluminium to the extent of from one to ten per cent., by weight, of thecopper, according to the quality and hardness of bronze required. Thiscoated copper is then melted in a crucible or suitable furnace, addingthereto one per cent. (more or less, as may be required) of the alloyNo. 2, hereinafter described, and the whole well mixed and combined.This molten metal is then cast into ingots or other convenientorrequired forms, an d constitutes my im proved aluminiumbronze, which Idesignate alloy No. 1.

This improved bronze, when containing one per cent. of alloyNo.2, issuitable for all kinds of ships sheathing; also, for ordinary castingswhere strength and toughness are required.

This bronze may be "aried in its relative constituents for differentpurposes, when still greater strength and hardness are required, byadding thereto from two to six per cent. of the alloy N o. 2.

Granulated copper or any other form thereof, or a mixture of copper andzinc, may be used instead of sheet-copper for receiving the said coatingof aluminium; or, instead of coating the copper with aluminium, suchcopper may be melted alone, and the alloy No. 2 then added in suchproportions as may be required for different qualities of bronze, andwith the extra portion of aluminium as required for coating the copperadded thereto, but I prefer the process first described.

The said alloy No. 2 consists of nickel,

twenty parts by weight; cop per, twenty parts,

by weight; tin, fifty-three parts, by weight;

of the copper added thereto, for the purpose of melting easier and inless time, the surface of the metals being kept carefully covered withcharcoal or other carbonaceous matter, free from sulphur, during theprocess of fusion and mixing. When the metals are melted I add to thecharcoal an equal weight, or thereabout, of chloride of sodium and ofoxide of alumina, mixed together, so as to well cover the molten metal.To this metallic mixture the remaining eighteen parts of the copper areadded, by degrees,stirring such metals well together until they arethoroughly united. lron beinginjurious to this alloy, the stirring-rodusedmust not be of iron, but of wood, earthenware, or the like. To thesaid mixture of nickel and copperI now add, by degrees, the fifty-threeparts of tin, well stirring the whole until thoroughly mixed and united,which can be ascertained by casting a small ingot of the mixture, andwhen cold breaking it. The broken faces of the metal will clearly showwhether it is thoroughly mixed or not. If found to be clear in grain theprocess is completed, and the broken ingot may be returned into thecrucible or furnace and be remelted with the metal therein; but shouldthe broken ingot show that the mixture of the metals is imperfect, theprocess must be continued until the combination thereof is complete andsatisfactory. 'When this is attained the temperature of the alloy may belowered, and the seven parts of aluminium added thereto, bydegrees,taking care not to add too much of the aluminium at a time, andto stir the whole continuously with a wood or earthenware stirrer. Whenthis mixture is supposed to be well and intimately united I try atest-ingot, and proceed as hereinbefore described, and raise thetemperature of the molten metal until it becomes thin and will run outof the crucible or furnace, as in the ordinary way of casting brass orthe like, when it is cast into ingots or other forms, as required; or Imake the said alloy, No. 2, as follows:

I melt and mix the nickel and copper, as before described; then addthereto five parts of tin,and well stir and mix these three metalstogether, and then cast the alloy into ingots or other forms, asdesired. This alloy I designate No. 2 I then melt the seven parts ofaluminium, by preference in a crucible, carefully covering the metalwith a mixture of charcoal, chloride of sodium, and oxide of alumina,and when the metal is melted I add, by small degrees, the remainingforty-eight parts of tin, well stirring the metals with, by preference,a wood stirrer, until the two metals are thoroughly united, when thealloy may be cast as before described. This alloy I designate No. 2 I donot claim that there is any novcity in this step of my process.

It will be seen that when the tWo alloys, Nos. 2 and 2 are mixedtogether they vill give the same proportions of the several metalscomposing alloy No. 2, and can be used in making my improved bronze byadding the proper relative proportions of each to the said coatedcopper.

Making the alloy No. 2 in two separate alloys, as described, will befound preferable to fusing the aluminium with the nickel, copper, andtin, as first herein described. In this case I prefer, first, to add tothe melted coated copper the proper proportion of alloy No. 2 and tothoroughly mix and unite them, and then add thereto the properproportion of alloy No. 2 thus forming, by the two mixings, the alloyNo. 1, or my improved bronze, as hereinbefore described.

The relative proportions herein specified of the several metals employedadmit of some variation Without departing from the main characteristicsof the invention; but

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is

1. The process of making aluminium bronze, consisting in the followingsteps: first, coating copper with aluminium, and then melting it with analloy consisting of nickel, copper, tin, and aluminium, substantially asset forth.

2. An alloy consistingsof a mixture of aluminium-coated copper, with thecomposition described as alloy No. 2, consisting of copper, nickel,aluminium, and tin, in the proportions stated.

' JAMES WEBSTER.

Witnesses WILLIAM OooKE, HENRY LIDINGTON.

